✚ Paper: I have been using the beautiful Arches watercolor blocks lately and I am so in love with them. This block is 10×14 inches, hot pressed, %100 cotton and it has a lovely,smooth texture (this helps when scanning artworks too) and makes your colors look richer and brighter. They are a bit pricier, but the quality you get is definitely worth it. You can find them here.

✚ Color: I used a little Yarka St. Petersburg watercolor set that I got a while ago and I customized it with a few extra color pans. The colors are beautiful, highly pigmented and vibrant (to me, they feel very similar to the Schmincke watercolors). You can find the set here.

✚ Paper: I got this beautiful Sennelier 100% cotton watercolor block in Paris last year; the Sennelier art shop it’s dreamy, I would have stayed in there for hours. You can also find it here or here.

✚ Color: My sister Iulia surprised me with this new Van Gogh watercolor set the other day. I can honeslty say that I love it; the colors are luminous, intense and they bled together beautifully. You can find the set here, here or a larger one here.

✚ Brush: I used a size 6, pointed round synthetic fiber brush that comes with the pan and a 10/0 Daler Rowneyliner for details.

In months like January I am dreaming of summer poppies. :) And here are the supplies I used for today’s paper/color/brush post:

✚ Paper: I have this 11’x15′ Canson XL watercolor pad and I like that I can use the paper as it is, for larger illustrations, or cut the paper in the size I want like I did above. You can also find it on Amazon here.

✚ Color: For the illustration I used this Daler Rowney Acrylic Ink in Sepia 251 color.

✚ Brush: I used a number 2 round Raphael watercolor brush and a 10/0 Daler Rowned liner. You can find them here or here. Any brand of watercolor brushes can work fine.

Happy Friday everyone! Here is a little illustration I did today to use as a Valentines card for next year. Scarlet red is probably my favorite red.✚ Paper: I got this cute Canson watercolor postcard set from Dick Blick last week and I was excited to start using it and maybe create a few postcards with original illustrations for my shop. The cards come as a set of 15 140# cold pressed Montval paper stock, acid free. You can find the same set here or here.

✚ Color: I used this pretty scarlet red watercolor paint by Schmincke. For the little black details I used a Sakura Pigma Micron pen (no.1) after the watercolors dried. You can find it here, here or a little set here.

✚ Brush: I used aDaler-Rowney size 01 round brush that you can find here or here and a liner brush of the same brand for fine lines.PS: I will have a few Christmas cards available in the shop next week. Eek! Holidays are so close! :)